There’s new proof that working up a sweat can really help individuals from packing on the pounds. A new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, has found that bicycling and walking briskly can help women maintain their weight.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health studied 18,414 women between the ages of 25 and 42 from 1989 to 2005.

They found that women who did not bicycle at the start of the study but increased their bicycling by the end of the study were less likely to have gained weight, even when riding for just five minutes a day. Even less weight gain was seen with greater duration of bicycling.

Walking at a brisk pace was also found to help guard against excess weight gain, especially in overweight or obese women.

"The benefits of brisk walking, bicycling and other activities were significantly stronger among overweight and obese women compared with lean women, whereas slow walking continued to show no benefit even among overweight and obese women," the study’s authors wrote.

They added that bicycling may be a good, unconscious form of exercise for many the trip’s destination, and not the exercise, can be the goal.